They are the Twelve.

Assembled in the chamber they stand, each moving to assume their appointed place at the appointed time to convene to speak on the matters resting before them.

“We have always been here…”

Whispers of thought and sound fly through the air at dizzying speed as the debate began and they tackled the matters at hand – the things which have drawn them together. There is so much, so many things which cannot be handled by each and every in their own dominions, only by the assembling. The time appointed when they unite with those issues which stood before them and among them and within the Twelve, themselves, the division is vast.

Each one in their place has assumed the name, title, and responsibilities which come with being one of the Twelve and they give voice to each one.

“They brought this upon themselves.” The one standing in the place of Apollo said derisively as the matter of the encroachment was introduced. His words turned the poetic sound of their language into something clipped and harsh to their ears. He was not given to speaking so coldly but with all that lay before them no one begrudged him his emotion. “Our laws forbid our involvement in such matters. That has always been clear to us and to those who came before us. We warned, as we always do, but as it is written, it fell to them to make the choice and make it they have. The consequences falling on them now are the ones of their own making. We are forbidden from protecting them from their own mistakes.”

“Pray tell, how could they have known?” The Queen objected, her voice calm and reasoned, “I have seen what you consider warning and it was insufficient. They believed they were seeking us out…they’d no warning of the Others, indeed they had no knowledge of them at all, and now they are endangered for their lack of information. Information we should have given them…”

“And we are responsible.” The King, her equal and her opposite, agreed with a nod.

“Then let us fight.” The vehemence was surprising from Athena’s place of standing as it burst forth from her in thought and word that echoed around them in circles. “Let us intervene and stop this atrocity while there is yet time!”

“Treaty law…”

The objection from the King was cut off by Athena’s equal and opposite. To stand as Ares required such a passion and lust for war that all were surprised he had not been the first to speak but none were surprised to hear him at all.

“The treaty has already been broken! They’ve been laying ruin to it for eons and always we fall back. Always we hesitate, dither, and question…Tell me, what good are we in our place if all we do is watch while our dominions crumble to dust?!”

The whispers rose to a deafening cacophony which whirled about them in a cyclone of energy and noise but they stood within it untouched and unhindered.

“He speaks with truth.” From Artemis came the sobering words. “We’ve let that which we stand for fall to a shadow of what was. The Twelve have failed in their charge. The blood of our failures pools at our feet in an ocean of our own damnation.”

“And what of the wandering?” Apollo pressed, taking up this argument which he claimed as his own. It was the cause which he championed upon each discussion beyond the meeting place and within each assembling. “Do we leave them fumbling in the wilderness with only the illusion of a hope? Our predecessors abandoned them as punishment but how far does the punishment fall and to what generation does the stain linger? They are alone, running into the unknown, pursued by our enemies. They have little hope and even less chance if we continue to turn our backs to them. We cannot expect them to depend upon messages the previous left for them. Those pitiful attempts at guidance are not nearly enough. We are abandoning them to die fighting yet another of our wars without the benefit of our power or our technology.”

Outside, where none could see but all could sense, thunder cracked and lightning streaked across the sky in testament to the turmoil among the Twelve within.

“We will not leave them to die and we are not abandoning them.” The King disagreed. “But we must move with care lest the situation spin beyond even our control. They walk the blade’s edge and the slightest misstep will send them plunging to their death. We will help but we must watch and weigh each decision against that chance.”

No one rushed into the silence that fell after his words. They had come together in division and embraced unity in their silence. Throughout history and beyond much had hung on their decisions. On the words and the decisions of the Twelve waited the fates of untold millions and if their charges walked the blade’s edge then the Twelve stood upon the razor. So fine an edge and so much railing at them in unending attempts to push them off.

“We had hoped to have more time but we always wish for that.” Athena looked grieved. “There seems to be so little of it to spare, so much to be done, and so few answers to be found.”

“And when has there been an abundance of anything but the demands placed on the Twelve?” The King’s severe, paternal features took on an ill-fitting look of amusement. “Since we rose from the ashes of our predecessors all we have had before us have been too many demands and not enough answers.” He permitted himself a rare sigh. “Very well, we are in agreement that action must be taken…”

“War.” Was the near-growled answer from Ares. “We fight.”

“Yes,” The Queen agreed wearily, “we fight…but they will die when we cannot and pay the price for our sin.”

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